She saw Morgan’s large forehead crease. “I’m not sure.”
“I have a guess,” Ned offered. Both Morgan and Josephine looked at him in surprise. “Dad, ask Josephine what her last name is.”
Morgan raised an eyebrow. “Her last name?”
“Russing,” Josephine offered. “So what?”
Morgan rubbed his chin again, but Ned answered her, excited to share the information. “They say the Master is from a dynasty in Drubshire, and before anyone called him the Master, he was named Leopold Reginald Russing. His family is rich and cruel, and—”
“Ned. That’s enough,” Morgan said sternly. He could see Ned’s words were upsetting Josephine, who looked positively gray. “I’m sure the name Russing is just a coincidence,” he added supportively.
But it was not just the name Russing that had knocked the breath out of Josephine. Her distress was caused by the fact that Leopold Reginald Russing was also the full name of her father. Mr. Russing had never been popular in her town, but she’d always assumed it was because of his gloves. What if there was more? What if her father was somehow involved with the Master and all the missing children? Or worse, what if he was the Master? Josephine felt woozy.
“I think Alma and Bruce must have known how valuable she was,” Ned told his father, “and maybe they were going to try to get big money for her!”
“Whether it involved money or not, I’m sure the Jarvises knew the significance of the name.” He looked at Josephine again. “The more I hear, the more I’m starting to believe you’re here for a reason.”
“No! There is no reason!” she exclaimed. “It was a mistake, an accident. And I just want to go back home!” She missed her room, her school, and Ms. Kirdle more than ever. She missed feeling safe and warm in her bed. And now, more than anything, she wanted to rush back to her father and demand to know if he had anything to do with the Master or the evil Russing dynasty.
“Please! Please help me find a way home!” she pleaded.
“Now, now,” Morgan soothed. “Don’t get upset. You’ll make yourself ill. What you need is a good night’s sleep. And in the morning we’ll come up with a plan.”
Ned said excitedly, “A plan for what?”
“For getting Josephine back to where she belongs.”
These were the best words she’d ever heard. Josephine wanted to hug them both. “Thank you!”
“Ned, fix us some dinner. As for me, I think I have some reading to do.”
TWENTY-NINE
A clamor came from the Jarvis home. Alma was extremely agitated, cursing under her breath as she prepared dinner. She had been yelling for more than an hour. Bruce sat at the table, resigned to listening to his wife until she ran out of steam.
“And now the whole town knows that we let her get away! You were asked to do one thing, ONE THING, and you couldn’t do it. All you had to do was keep an eye on her. How hard could it be? She had enough drugs in her to incapacitate three people! But oh no, it’s too much to ask Bruce Jarvis to keep a sleepy little girl from running away. We almost had something good happen—a little respect within the community! Can’t you do anything right?”
“I just went to fetch some fertilizer,” he protested.
“More like you were napping behind the barn!”
“I was gone only a second.”
Alma spat, “Just like you were gone only a second when they took Sarah?”
It took Bruce a moment to believe what he’d heard. “What are you saying?”
“I think you know.”
“They came in the night . . . we never even saw them . . .”
“You should have protected her! You were her father!”
Bruce’s head sagged at the truth of her words. “I thought we were talking about Josephine.”
“Get out. Just go. I can’t look at you anymore.”
“You don’t mean that . . . you’re just upset. We let the girl get away. So what? What can anyone do? What more can they take from us?”
Alma looked at him with a cold heart and told him to gather his things.
THIRTY
Josephine woke up, not sure where she was. Then, in the dim light, she saw Morgan sitting in his rocking chair, staring at her.
“What’s wrong?” she mumbled. “What’s happening?”
He whispered so as not to wake Ned. “There’s no need to be alarmed. I’ve just been waiting for you to wake up.”
“Why? Have you been there all night?”
“I want to ask you about something you said last night. Do you remember when I said you must have traveled from quite a distance and you said, ‘I think I did’?”
“Yes.”
“Why aren’t you sure?”
Josephine lay back down and considered how she should answer. “I suppose you could say that the way I got here . . . to Gulm . . . was very . . . uh . . . unusual.”
